Rick Santorum: ‘Suicidal’ to change GOP

Rick Santorum says it would be “suicidal” for the Republican Party to support same-sex marriage.

In an interview with The Des Moines Register on Monday, Santorum said that Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) backing same-sex marriage is similar to the Republicans in the 1960s and 1970s who broke with the GOP and supported abortion.

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Santorum at CPAC 2013

Rob Portman backs gay marriage

“I’m sure you could go back and read stories, oh, you know, ‘The Republican Party’s going to change. This is the future.’ Obviously, that didn’t happen,” Santorum told the Register. “I think you’re going to see the same stories written now, and it’s not going to happen. The Republican Party’s not going to change on this issue. In my opinion, it would be suicidal if it did.”

Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, also said that Americans haven’t carefully thought out what legalizing same-sex marriage would mean for the country. “[It] is not a well thought-out position by the American public,” Santorum said.

The Supreme Court of the United States is expected to rule in the next few months on two same-sex marriage cases — one that determines the legality of a California ban of the issue and another about the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Santorum said that he does not think SCOTUS will legalize same-sex marriage.

“I think you’ll see, hopefully, a chastened Supreme Court is not going to make the same mistake in the (current) cases as they did in Roe v. Wade,” he told the Register. “I’m hopeful the Supreme Court learned its lesson about trying to predict where the American public is going on issues and trying to find rights in the Constitution that sit with the fancy of the day.”

Santorum, who is rumored to be considering another 2016 presidential run, said that he “hasn’t made any decisions” with regards to another bid.